No one, with the exception of Kevin Newman, expected the former Poway High star to do what he has done.

With All-America shortstop Alex Mejia, the catalyst of last season’s University of Arizona College World Series championship team gone, Wildcats coach Andy Lopez was looking for a replacement.

It wouldn’t be easy. Mejia started all 172 games in his UA career, and was a fourth-round pick of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Enter Newman, Jackson Willeford (Ramona) and Trent Gilbert, last year’s Wildcats second baseman. Newman not only won the job, he has started all 42 games for an Arizona team that is 28-14. He’s hitting .352 with 28 RBIs. And has struck out just 11 times in 193 plate appearances.

In the field, Newman has made four errors in 193 chances and has been in the middle of 15 double plays.

Last week, he was named one of the 25 quarterfinalists for the Brooks Wallace Shortstop of the Year Award.

“I set personal goals, and this is what I expected,” Newman said.

Lopez compared Newman’s raw tangible skills to Mejia when the latter was a freshman in 2010.

“Newman is mature enough to handle the pressures and expectations,” Lopez said.

Newman said he expected a friendly competition with Willeford, who is now Newman’s roommate. But Willeford suffered a hand injury early in the season, then came down with mono. And Gilbert is back at second base.

“I’ve had to make some adjustments,” Newman said. “The college game is so much faster than high school. I’ve had to shorten my swing at the plate.

“Defensively, I learned you’re expected to make every play, not just the routine ones. There is no room for error at this level. So I had to turn on the switch.

“Every pitcher we face is better than what I saw in high school, so you better be prepared. This is the Pac-12, one of the best conferences in the country.”

Newman narrowed his college choices to Arizona, Arizona State, UCLA, Oregon and Oregon State. He chose the Wildcats because he has family in the Tucson area and his mother can visit regularly, and he knew the shortstop job was open with the departure of Mejia.

“I’ve enjoyed stepping in for him because the expectations are high,” Newman said. “It was a guarantee that this was going to be the hardest challenge I’d ever face, but I embraced that. I like having to perform at the highest level.”

• Robby Nesovic (Grossmont) is pitching and hitting at UCSB. At the plate, the freshman is hitting .353 with a pair of homers and 25 RBIs. On the mound, he’s 1-2 in nine appearances. Freshman Connor Baits (Point Loma) is 1-1 in 25 innings over 14 appearances.

• Brett Thomas (Poway) is hitting .308 with a pair of homers, 13 doubles and 24 RBIs as the leadoff hitter for No. 8-ranked Oregon, which is 33-10. Connor Hofmann (St. Augustine) is hitting .227 while appearing in 34 games, and Steven Packard (Mission Hills) is hitting .224 in 28 games. Jake Reed (Helix) is 5-3 with a 3.34 ERA in 11 starts for the Ducks.